A thermoelectric generator is an energy harvesting device that converts thermal energy into electrical energy based on a temperature differential dT between a heated surface and a non-heated surface of the thermoelectric generator. Electrical power scales nonlinearly with the temperature differential dT. As an example, a thermoelectric generator may be directly attached to a heat generating device (e.g., a semiconductor device) to obtain the greatest temperature differential dT. However, typical thermoelectric generator devices produce an electrical output at the mW level, which may not be large enough for some applications. Further, such thermoelectric generator devices are costly. Therefore, attaching a thermoelectric generator device to each heat generating device to achieve a desired electrical output level may be cost prohibitive in some applications.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative electronic assemblies incorporating a thermoelectric generator device that increase the temperature differential dT and electrical output, as well as reduce the overall cost per mW of electrical output.